Grieving husband hopes to raise awareness of ovarian cancer

ASSOCIATED PRESS

February 4, 2013 12:18 AM

ASSOCIATED PRESS

February 4, 2013 12:18 AM

Dave Brown, a retired Vanguard IT specialist and Navy veteran, will walk across the United States in late February, from Atlantic City to San Francisco, roughly tracing the path of the old U.S. Route 40, to commemorate the Aug. 2011 death of his wife Joan from ovarian cancer. (AP Photo/The Philadelphia Inquirer, David Swanson)The Philadelphia Inquirer

PHILADELPHIA -- It happened so fast.

In February 2011, Joan Brown seemed to be in perfect health. In March, she began feeling tired and listless. In April, an ultrasound of her abdomen found a tumor on an ovary. In May, she had surgery to remove both ovaries as well as her uterus.

"They got out everything possible," her husband, Dave, said. "All that was left were microscopic traces."

Joan's doctor at Lankenau Medical Center had warned her that her form of ovarian cancer was aggressive. He was right. In June, as Joan was considering chemotherapy, the cancer returned with a vengeance, and a new tumor took root.

Joan faced a dire choice. She could begin chemo in the hope it would tame the tumor, or she could transfer to hospice care. Then, a ray of hope: Joan rebounded enough to go home, where she spent the month of July. On Aug. 1, 2011, she died, at age 58, another victim of the "silent disease," so called because its symptoms are so varied and subtle.

Dave Brown was devastated. After visiting relatives in Ohio for consolation, he returned via a route that took him to northwestern Pennsylvania. He and Joan, avid walkers and members of the Liberty Bell Wanderers, a local chapter of the American Volkssport Association, had planned to go hiking there before she fell ill. Brown decided to walk those same paths, partly to relieve his grief, partly in memory of Joan.

Now, Brown, 61, has another walk in mind, a very long walk, again in honor of his late wife. On Feb. 28, he will set out from Atlantic City, intending to walk nearly 3,000 miles across the United States. He plans to walk about 14 miles a day, at a pace of about 4 miles an hour, and to finish Oct. 12 in San Francisco.

Brown spent eight days planning the route, which will follow U.S. Route 40, the Old National Road, as far as St. Louis, where he will pick up U.S. Route 50. Brown has been fascinated by the Old National Road for years.

The highway was conceived by George Washington and implemented by Thomas Jefferson to help open the western frontier.

The cross-country walk is a way to grieve, Brown admits, but he also has a higher purpose, to spread word about ovarian cancer. He hopes to raise $110,000 for the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. Already, he has collected $4,000 from family, friends, and colleagues at Vanguard.

"I want to urge women: Listen to your body," Brown said. "If you begin feeling symptoms such as abdominal pressure, bloating, nausea, indigestion, fatigue, and backaches, go see a doctor. It's better to deal with it sooner than later."